A Shadow in the Mists
by Naughtbeast
Summary: The king has ordered one of his loyal subjects to help him out... nothing too hard. The only problem is that they are part of a much bigger plan and they don't even know it. Follow a group of motley adventurers as they travel across a continent to complete a simple task... but nothing about being an adventurer is simple. [On Hiatus until further notice]
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone!... this is my first attempt at writing a story so I admit it is pretty terrible.**

 **This story runs in a world that me and my friends made so you will not find and spoilers within this.**

 **And so... onto the first chapter of A Shadow in the Mists**

 **Naughtbeast**

 _Italics = thoughts, speech or reading I'll generally explain throughout though_

 _"War… War is an art… and the world… my canvas…"_

Unknown

"Holg, get down here!"... said half-orc pulled himself slowly out of bed, put on some clothes and went downstairs. As he lumbered down the mahogany stairs he saw his mother cooking in the kitchen. "Who's my strong, little half-orc" babied his mum. Her azure eyes were twinkling in the morning sun, dark brown hair flowing along her back down to her hips. She was wearing a long, green dress, nothing fancy but just enough to keep her looking better than the regular scrabble of the city. As he went and sat down at the serving table he thought to himself. Sometimes it annoyed him that they still had not grasped the idea that half-orcs mature faster than humans, at the age of 5 he was already the size of an 8-year-old.

"I am 5 you know" he replied perfectly in the language of common.

He had learnt to speak earlier that year and his tutor said he had an adept ability to master languages very quickly.

"Ok then just finish up quickly, you have to work at the shop today"

Maturing faster also meant that he had to work with his father at the blacksmith forge, learning things that would normally come much later in life, but he enjoyed the feel of heat and concentration ever-present in the forge.

"Good morning Holg, morning Melany" came a gruff voice from the hallway, slightly groggy from the night before. His father walked in with full blacksmith gear on, ready to go, but his jet black hair was a mess and his brown eyes were slightly baggy, indicating another sleepless night. Just as he was about to say another sentence three loud bangs were heard from the door. His father backpedalled towards the door, whistling as he went.

"Well hello there" were the last words he ever heard from his father. 'Thunk' something hard hit the floor. After a couple of seconds of silence, his mother began walking over and called "Jacen?".

She walked round the corner and let out the loudest scream I ever heard. But the scream was cut short as her body slumped to the ground. I could barely stand as her head was just visible from the corner, blood pouring from a crossbow bolt embedded in her head. Lifeless eyes stared back at me, showing the despair in her last moments. I could only stare in shock as she was slowly dragged towards the door until she was out of view, blood following her like a puppy. A dark, cloaked figure walked from the hallway holding a long, thin, curved knife in one hand and a large crossbow in the other.

Streaks of red adorned his cloak and his fingers that he used to pull back his hood. Pure black eyes seemed to look straight through me as a being from hell walked slowly forward. This was a tiefling, a human infused with the blood of Asmodeus, devil horns protruding from its head, a thick tail winding around his leg, skin as dark as the night.

It walked up to him, knowing what would come next Holg slowly began crying for the first time in his life… he didn't want to die…

Pain shot through his head but that was all. Blood flowed across his right eye, and he still stood dumbfounded. "Well orc scumssss it appears that you are all alonesssss, I have no trouble with you ssso unlessssssss you want to end up like themssssssss you will leave now". Shocked and weak Holg slowly walked in a circle around the tiefling never taking his good eye off the knife. Sprinting through the door not caring where he went he only paused slightly to look at his parents. Lying together faces down on the floor, a pool of crimson surrounding their limp bodies.

He walked weakly around town not knowing what to do… he had no friends, family or home. The only place he knew was the blacksmiths… but when he got there it looked to have been ransacked by looters, somehow knowing that the smithy was gone. He lay there thinking about what happened… and so he stayed there for five days. He managed to get his eye healed by a kind dragonborn who also gave him some food, but that was the only good thing that happened. Knowing he had to do something… anything… he began begging on the streets to make ends.

Wandering aimlessly, covered in muck from days of homelessness, Holg was deprived of food and sleep. Being close to death he could only stumble around the city in his dirty rags, begging for someone to take pity on him. Sometime after midday, a cloaked man approached him. Too tired to run he slumped to the ground in defeat only to be lifted up. A calm face stared into his eyes. "Don't worry" was the only thing he heard before he slipped into unconsciousness. He woke up seeing nothing but black until a badly lit brick room came into view. After minutes of regaining muscle control, he got up and saw a note lying on the table.

 _For the young half-orc, you are safe for now and we will also give you training in our ways. We are priests of the order of Pholtus and gladly accept all members of any religion, and even if you worship none. Come to our main hall if you wish to join._

Slowly pulling himself out of his soft bedding, feeling his right eye. He carefully opened it feeling little pain. The only thing left from his experience was a massive scar and a slight red haze in his right eye. Massaging his scar, he lumbered to the main hall to find the man who had taken him in sitting on a stool. A hood covered most of his head but he had hazel eyes and strange yellow eyes, which shocked Holg.

"Welcome child, we are the brothers of Pholtus" gesturing to the whole hall as he said this.

"Thank you for saving me" choked out Holg as he began to see the hall around him. Massive 200-foot-tall columns lined the palace-sized hall, large stained glass depictions of glowing figures with larger men standing over them.

"Is that Pholtus?" inquired Holg, motioning to the largest depiction, a man with a scale in one hand and seeming to hold the sun with the other, with beams of light flowing from him into a kneeling figure.

"Yes, that is Pholtus giving his power to Relter, our temple's founder… The gods work in strange ways giving people very small amounts of their power. Not many people are given their gifts but when they are it can impact their lives significantly. That brings me to the reason you are here. When I saw you I saw the faint glow of someone given power by the gods. I know not of which god but your heart will choose."

Overwhelmed with what this priest was saying Holg could only stand, mouth agape, staring at the priest. Smiling at the confused half-orc he decided to break the silence

"Well we should probably get started." At the end of his sentence, he rung a small bell, barely enough for Holg to hear but on that command, another man entered at the far end of the hall. "This is Brother Daniel, he will oversee to your training and show you to your quarters."

Daniel stepped in front of Holg and bowed, gesturing to the other end of the hall. He began walking but stopped to say to the first priest.

"I forgot to ask but who should I thank for saving me?"

The man turned his head up and contemplated for a couple of seconds, the man replied: "Call me Enlightenment for now, it will serve its purpose until you are ready."

Completely confused Holg turned around feeling that he would never get the answer he wanted. Arriving at a small doorway, inset with lead hinges and knocker, he heard Daniel say "we will come and get you in the morning when you will begin your training".

Then, being shoved in through the door with robes and a pillow, the door locking behind him, he came face to face with 12 human boys all of them looking no older than 7. They were whispering to each other in small groups obviously talking about him. Walking over to the only cloth bed without possessions on it Holg was interrupted by a foot… causing him to drop everything and land on his face.

"Well well well, who do we have here… ah, it doesn't matter. If you're going to live here, you will follow my rules… Or else" threatened the tallest of them. This was swiftly followed by a punch to the gut on the part of Holg. The other boys all gasped and started chanting 'fight, fight, fight'. The guy got up and tried to hit Holg only to receive another punch to the jaw. Holg was not going to stop, he had had enough, venting all his anger on this boy who had insulted him.

"I…listen…to…my…own…rules" he panted as he viciously beat the child to tears. Stepping back, he let the child get up, picked up his possessions and lay in his bed trying to get some sleep, not caring what the others thought.

He was woken suddenly in the morning by water sinking down his nostrils. Coughing, violently he expelled the water only to be hit on the head.

"Shhhh do not wake the others". Daniel was standing over him holding an empty pale. "Your training begins now… follow".

His harsh words shocked Holg. He had never been so rudely addressed. Without another word Daniel swiftly walked out and harshly gestured for Holg to follow.

What followed next was 7 years of continuous shunning and torture by the other boys and constant mistreatment by Daniel. His only salvation was with Enlightenment who taught him to find his inner call to life, following the god who imbued his power in Holg. As soon as Holg became of age he joined the royal army to escape his life at the temple, the age being much less for half-orcs compared to humans. He only regretting leaving Enlightenment.

He fought in 3 different campaigns against elves, orcs and goblins, being revered for his braveries continuously. By the end of his career he had risen to the rank of Lord Executioner, leading the heavy assault companies into the fray. During that time, he received visions of the holy god of war, Kord and could channel his power in the heat of battle. Knowing his true calling he was urged to return to the temple to enlighten them to his revelation (pun intended).

Hearing this, Enlightenment christened him a Paladin of the order of Kord and gave him everything he would need much to the dismay of the now older priests who had tormented him in his youth… never making it to a recognisable position. He left to make his mark on the world. After many months travelling over the vast landscape of the nation of Oerik, Holg made many lasting bonds. He saved the king's advisor Carric from dire wolves.

Recognising the paladin's family name Carric informed Holg of the tiefling's death and granted him his land back as well as awarding him noble status and gave him falconry classes which lead to his bond with the hawk Silverbeak, a wild hawk the size of an eagle and with a beak that shined with silver. After travelling north Holg met the dwarven prince of the Beor mountains, currently in the middle of a battle with marauding orc party he intervened and eventually the dwarf persuaded him to be allowed to follow on his journeys. Now they travel, finding trouble more often than not and eventually ended up back at Holg's home in Losune.

The two had stayed there and decided to rejuvenate after months of constant fighting… not knowing what was to come next…


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! ... I guess if you're reading this then you actually like the first chapter! YAY for me!**

 **So... without further ado... the next chapter**

 **Naughtbeast**

 _"An army of sheep led by a lion is far better than an army of lions led by a sheep"_

 _The general of Oeriks Imperial army - General Tiberium Seritor_

Holg woke up in his large mansion on a calm Midweeks. The mansion was what most people would describe as overkill. It was made of wood that was harvested from 100 miles away and had a massive collection of what people would call 'useless' rooms. He had a personal combat room, an armoury and many classrooms. As he was not here most of the time he left it to his servants and hirelings to look after and he allowed the local village children to attend a school he organised for free.

After getting up he fitted his noble clothes over his colossal 7'8" body, had breakfast of roast hog and pheasant eggs and then wandered around his menagerie of exotic animals that was currently being maintained by Niomi the half-elf druid. The panther pawed around his cage, expecting Holg to feed him, this being the normal feeding time, the massive Keshian Elephant trumpeted silently as it was turning in its sleep and the bear he owned was casually gnawing on a large branch.

After a while of playing with his hawk Silverbeak, testing out the new metal talons he had fitted, one of the house's staff came round with a letter. Holg regarded it with little to no enthusiasm until he saw the seal. The royal crown seal, that of the great king of Oerik. He hastily ripped it open and began looking over it.

It read:

 _To the noble Holg Braveshield,_

 _Currently, I am in need of an adventurer to complete a task for me_

 _I have been advised by the elf Carric that you would be perfect for the job I have in mind_

 _I will be meeting with the lord of Losune on the next eve of Restday1_

 _I wish for you to be at a council at noon with anyone you see fit to travel with you_

 _Feel no obligation to attend but I am sure you will enjoy the prospects_

 _This journey will require leave from your holding until next Winterfest_

 _I cannot add more details to this letter for the sake of safety_

 _Yours,_

 _The Great King_

'Well… he always was straight to the point' thought Holg.

Being a noble Holg was trained in reading writing and speaking, His language skills were practically unmatched by any in Losune as he could fluently speak and write Common, Orcish, Dwarvish, Elvish and Draconic. Yet he was still to see another write (or talk) with such bluntness.

After saving Carric from dire wolves earlier last year he could have never imagined it leading to this. The debt Carric owed him had been settled but now he had the opportunity of working for the king. This was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity.

" **Wat Yer Lookin at Pig** "

Holg turned to see Adrik, the prince of the Byeor mountains, walking out of the house still viciously devouring a leg of ham. Compared to the 8 foot tall Holg, Adrik was dwarfed by him. (pun intended)

'Pig' was Adrik's pet names for Holg and it was the one condition he had for travelling with him.

He got to call him pig all he wanted.

"I have received a letter from the Kings stating that he needs our help"

" **That wee fella who always sells his own nose hairs for money! I don't like him; he acts too tall for his height.** "

"He couldn't be smaller than you, Oh HIGH KING OF BEOR" He spoke in his 'posh' voice as he called it, trying to sound like a snobby high noble, whilst feigning a bow. That earned him a punch in the side by the prince.

That might not have been as Adrik put it but the king was one of the best Oerik had ever seen. He would often sell some of the castle furniture or even his own possessions just so that an orphanage could keep running and always cared about the people no matter their status. This, however, caused him to be hated by most of the nobles, but Holg idolised him for his deeds. Holg then spoke, responded to the question.

"Yes him but then again it was you who said you wanted adventure"

" **The most adventurin' I expect from that fella is a trip to the low levels to see if everyone is havin' fun wiv the new toilets.** "

"Well I am still going and you're coming with me" ...

After another hour or so of bickering, they decided finally to travel to Losune the next day.

1… Restday is Sunday eve of Restday = Saturday

Sidenote:

Losune is the largest city in Oerik, housing over 600,000 people. The city was built by dwarven architects fairly recently and was a sight to be marvelled at. It was divided into 3 districts, the lower levels which were home to the poor, the upper levels which were home to nobles and craftsmen, and finally the Lord's castle rose high above all others and could be seen for miles around. Criss-crossing bridges linked all parts of the districts which allowed the rich to mingle with the poor and so forth, much to the dismay of the snobby nobles.

To make sure that there was enough space to house everyone Losune was arranged in a pyramid format, having the poor near the bottom, occupying the most space and working up with the less frequent high-status people at the top. The noble system worked so that the higher you were the more important you were. It had seen its fair share of fighting as fresh scars of war were seen all over the perimeter walls, the signs that orcs or goblins had decided it would be fun to be shot by ballistae.


	3. Chapter 3

**Well well well... I am just quick-fire launching these chapters aren't I?**

 **Well the truth is I have most of the story written already... so expect the next ten chapters to be released pretty quickly**

 **I hope you are enjoying the story so far... it's just mainly been character and story intro's but it'll get there**

 **So... the next chapter awaits...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 3:

 _I am the night… there are no bindings I cannot escape… no trap I can't evade… no doors I cannot open… I am coming for you… pleasant dreams…_

 _Common words heard by those who are sought by the thief's guild_

The thumping of his heart against his leather plated armour was the only thing Frath Hornraven heard. His target was within his reach, noble nature emanating from his stature, this was his chance. Following the noble all the way from his home to this bar without being noticed was harder than he thought. After entering the bar Frath sat next to the noble and slowly began sipping a drink given to him by the barmaid. Slowly Frath edged his hand closer to his knife, wanting to be sure no traces were left. He swiftly cut the rope connecting his targets coin purse to his suit.

But this was not his real reason for being here. A small ruby was clearly visible hanging from a chain around his neck. Well if he is parading it around like that someone is bound to steal it Frath thought to himself, just got to make sure it is me. Glancing around, he waited for the right moment. Striking as fast as cobra he grabbed the gem from around his neck, spilt his drink onto his shirt and slumped onto him, all within the blink of an eye.

"Oi! Watch it!" he shouted, obviously shocked at being touched by a 'peasant'.

Feigning intoxication Frath slurred "Ahhh it's notin mate… here let me" as he reached over with a cloth in hand.

"No! You have done enough today" he said as he got up, muttered about low lives, then left the bar inspecting his jacket. Frath, knowing what would come next, sprinted out and climbed up the nearest building. Nimbly jumping from roof to roof he was now only just able to hear the muffled shouts of "Thief! Bloody Thief Stole My Ruby!"

He laughed as he held up the gem to the light. A perfectly cut gem, worth around 300 gold, enough to make sure he never starved in the next two years. He had taken up thieving as soon as his parents abandoned him. He was taken to a local orphanage where the only way to make money was to steal from the poor. All throughout his life he had lived in third-rate dwellings, little nourishment to keep him alive and even less food. He had built up his career and earned a place in the Zentaren, the thief's guild, and even got himself an on-call broker for selling goods and receiving information.

For the last few weeks, he had been planning raids all around the city, hoping to gain enough money to make it out to another city where he was less… Well known. Knowing he was close to his monetary goal he headed for another tavern on the lower levels of the city. Ending up at the Lone Rider inn, he walked in and saw a likely target. A large figure sat at the bar covered in a grey cloak.

He was a lot bigger built than all others at the bar, a massive mug sat in front of him half-full with a very thick beer. Good, he's drunk, that makes my job much easier. Just to check he walked over to a table with 4 men gathered swigging beer. and spoke in in thief's cant.

"How drunk is the grey-cloaked guy at the bar?" 3 of the men looked very confused when one replied in the cant "He shouldn't be standing, that one is his 5th" nodding, Frath walked away towards the grey-cloaked person. Sitting next to him, he could hear his heavy breathing and smelt the alcohol in his breath. Carefully he slid his hand through his cloak until he wrapped his hand around a coin purse. Jackpot he thought as he could tell it was filled to the brim. As he cut it with his punch dagger he stood up and began walking towards the door, triumph filled his mind as he knew he would be able to get out of this backwater town.

Just when he thought he was safe an iron hard grip surrounded his wrist. Shocked, he turned around to see the cloaked man was rising from his seat. Towering over Frath, the man shed his cloak to reveal a dark green half-orc face with a large scar over his right eye, silver eyes, a short black beard and long dreadlocked black hair. Silver chainmail shining, even in the dull lit inn and the holy symbol of Kord was shown proudly on the front, taunting those opposing him that he was aligned to the god of war. No! nonononono! "I believe you have something of mine" it spoke, showing no signs of intoxication.

Changing its grip, a gauntleted hand roughly strangled his throat, barely allowing him to breathe, the metal making deep cuts. Frath punched him in the gullet, only succeeding in breaking his finger. Without looking phased at all it lifted him up, moved to the door and chucked him through it. Giving him no time to get up the paladin lifted him up again and shoved him hard against the wall, accompanied by a loud 'Crack'.

"I wonder how interested the thief-taker general will take to me giving him someone like you". Showing a last ditch effort to escape Frath thrust his punch dagger through its chainmail and embedded it in its chest, blood splattering in his face. Unfortunately, for him it did not have the expected result. Without even loosening his grip it looked down slowly then back up not even flinching.

"Well then", and with that Frath blacked out due to the fist breaking his nose and jaw.

"W…. I gues… hav...this…it is… much he is worth"

Slowly opening his eyes Frath saw the thief-taker general handing over a bag full of gold as well as the ruby he stole to the paladin. Glancing over the room he saw something that made his heart drop. On the immaculately clean mantelpiece rested 3 sets of hands. Just hands, nothing else. He had heard of the rumors about the thief-taker cutting of the hands of those caught, as some sort of gesture against the very things they used to commit their crimes. But something else caught his eye… an open window.

"Well thank you Mr…, sorry I did not get your name" spoke the thief taker.

"Holg Braveshield Sir" replied the paladin, and with that he left and Frath seized his opportunity.

"Well then what should we do with you, THIEF". Questioned the thief-taker as he slowly turned, knife in hand.

"I need a new set of hands for my mantel…"

His sentence was cut short by the trail of blood he saw leading from the floor through the window. Well, that was easy. Thought Frath as he began his escape. Running over the roofs was not as easy though, it was about as easy as any other person would have if their ribs, nose, jaw and fingers were broken, bleeding profusely and were covered in glass. Stumbling blindly over the heads of unsuspecting citizens he only had one goal… escape.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi... Congrats on making it this far in the story!**

 **Still going through the character intro's... don't worry, only one more to go**

 **So... onto the 2nd last character intro...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 4:

 _The two most important days in your life are the day you are born… and the day you find out why._

 _Drizzt Do'urden_

The thrill of the hunt was what made up Zwelious' life. His arrow notched and pointing at the throat of an unsuspecting buck, the largest he had ever seen. Being brought up by a family of wolves had sharpened his senses and gave him unnatural hunting skills, allowing him a natural edge against the animals he hunted. He had lived with them ever since he had been abandoned by his parents at birth, so they had become his family. He knew each one by name and smell and he could almost claim to be able to talk to them.

After shaking off the memory, he re-focused on the hunt at hand. With a loud 'Twang' the bowstring released and the buck fell instantly, an arrow embedded in his windpipe. A clean kill, that would certainly sell for more. Checking the traps, he had set the night before he brought the buck, slung it over his shoulder, and walked back into town. The guards checked his hunting documents then let him through into the city. He was on the way to the butchers when he noticed something strange. The blacksmith was closed. Of all the 10 years he was in Losune it never closed. That man was the first true friend he had and was the reason he was able to become an elite ranger. Letting his mind wander he thought of nothing else on the long walk to the butchers.

"Well of all my years I never thought you could top that buck from last season" Came the raspy voice of Eldon, the gnomish butcher, a bloody knife in hand.

Slumping the limp buck onto the counter Zwelious avoided conversation, took the bag of gold and bread off Eldon, and left. He had been feeding the town of Losune for a year now. Ever since he left his wolf pack that had raised him as a child, he knew his true purpose in life was to hunt. He originally came to Losune when he was 8 to earn a living, working in the blacksmith's shop, he was gifted a bow and twin swords by the blacksmith who could tell that he was a ranger at heart.

Taking up hunting in the nearby forest, he had begun to feed the lower levels with all the food he collected and had done so for the past 2 years. Munching on the loaf of bread Eldon had given him he made his way back to the blacksmith to check out what had happened. Walking inside he found it in a state of disarray. Half-finished weapons lay strewn over the floor, tools were bent or broken and the forge was spilling over still alight. A small scraping sound came from over near the forge so Zwelious slowly crept over and sighted a hunched over figure in the corner. "Ummm Hello?"

The figure instantly bolted upright and covered its face with a small arm.

"Please don't hurt me" came a soft whimpering voice.

Walking over, Zwelious pulled back the figures arm to reveal a half-orc child, blood streaming down his face, his right eye in messy ruins. "Do not worry I will do you no harm, but I can help you with this" gesturing to his eye. Pulling out healing herbs from his satchel he slowly rubbed them on the cut receiving no resistance from the child. After several minutes, he pulled back and the child tenderly opened his eyes.

"Thank you, kind sir."

Handing over a broken off piece of bread Zwelious asked…

"so to whom am I giving my hard earned food to?"

"I am the son of the Jacen; I am Holg"

That did not seem right, the smithy and his wife were human.

"You are adopted, no?"

"yes I came to be in their family but three months ago"

"Do you know why the shop is closed?" He questioned.

The child stopped chewing and Zwelious saw his eyes water.

"I am sorry, is something wrong"

"My dad is dead" he replied in a soft, choked voice.

Oh, poor child…

Giving the child the rest he left and headed towards Jacen's house. When he arrived a tiefling noble was standing outside and putting up a sign indicating the house was sold.

"Hello do you know what happened to the previous owners"

"Ssssorry, the only thingsssss I know is that they weressssssss murdered in the morning"

Knowing this was going nowhere he turned and left, mourning would only stop him from working. Something he could not afford to do…


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok... don't worry... this is the last bit of character introduction... THEN FINALLY THE STORY!**

 **So... this chapter is a bit longer than the rest just to make up for the last unusually short chapter...**

 **Another reminder is just try to imagine Adrik speaking like a bogan... or an ork from Warhammer**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 5:

 _The greatest slave to a kingdom is generally the king of it…_

 _Passage found within the old scriptures of the empire of Kesh_

Adrik Fireforge sat on his gold throne, looking down upon his many subjects. He had been the heir to the throne for many years and this was the first time he had sat in the kingly position over the many dwarfs of the Byeor mountains. He had been adopted by the king of Byeor after he found him on a morning ride. He had grown as the king's heir and he was truly treated as kin. But alas, no matter how high your status you are not exempt from death. His father had been killed in battle by a giant using a magic mace, his head rolling down the blood-stained battlefield as the war still raged on without him.

Adrik had never taken up his father's position as his mother was still Queen and until both monarchs are dead no other can rule. His life was filled with the boring duties of ordering around servants, telling the kitchen staff what to make and on the rare occasion ordering the troops to do battle. The only thing he wished was for a chance to escape from his royal hell-hole. Suddenly a guard burst through the throne-room doors.

"Sire, orcs changing to the east barracks!" a smile crept onto Adriks face.

" **Good… let em come** "

He gathered his best men and sent them to bolster the defences before they hit. He went to his personal armoury to prepare. He picked up "Yelsinger", the warhammer that had been passed down to all the kings of the Byeor mountains, and holstered his set of throwing axes. He disdained armour as his scarred, thick dwarven skin would provide the same protection as even the greatest master-crafted chainmail.

After gearing up he was accompanied to the east barracks by his 4 bodyguards, the best-of-the-best soldiers who he believed would willingly give their lives to stop the king from getting killed. They wore black battle plate mail and wielded massive great swords that were twice their size. As he arrived at the line of defence he the surveyed the situation. Rank upon rank of orcs were marching forwards, to his amazement there was a file of orogs riding dire-wolves.

That's new, how did they manage to control the wolves? then he saw how. In the centre of the entire congregation was an eye of Gruumsh, his shaman staff glowing with energy. This was going to be more difficult than he thought. He sent the order to be ready to repel them as well as to ready the archers. He made his way to the top of the battlements to where every defender could see him. On his command every archer stationed fired. Their arrows scythed through the first couple of ranks, cutting them down where they stood, but did nothing to halt their advance. A second volley was fired but was stopped short by multi-coloured wall summoned by the orc Eye. The arrows were burnt, dissolved, dissipated or just stopped in mid-air.

The wall, however, did not stop the orcs as they proceeded to sprint through the wall and met with the first wave of dwarvish defences. Despite the well-trained nature of the dwarven soldiers they were slaughtered by the literal wall of bodies that were thrown at them. The battle was bloody and many dwarves sacrificed themselves to try and stop the feral orcs.

After hours of battle the orcs made it to the main hall where Adrik was stationed. He stood waiting, warhammer drawn, as the massive door was begging to shake. Eventually the door bar broke and orcs swarmed in. A psychotic smile was shown on his face as he cut them down left and right. His guard desperately tried to keep him from staying too far from the line of defence but to no avail as he continued pushing through the orcs until he was physically in the centre of them. As soon as he made it to that point he was surrounded by spears from all angles.

The circle around him seemed to widen as the eye of Gruumsh stepped inside, spitting in front of him, signalling a one-on-one contest. Bringing Yelsinger in front of his face he accepted the contest and prepared to fight. The eye struck first sending 3 bolts of energy towards Adrik. He managed to barely avoid them and threw an axe at lightning fast speed only for it to slightly veer off coarse and imbed itself in a watching orc.

Adrik knew this eye of Gruumsh was far more powerful than him so he only hoped his forces could get to him quick enough. As the fight raged the orcs failed to notice a lone man wearing a cloak slowly move his way through the crowd, moving ever closer to the fight in the centre. The eye stood over Adrik, Yelsinger knocked from his hand by a blast of magic force, the eye was riling up the watching orcs before the kill, shouts of orcs reverberated around the hall, drowning the sounds of clashing weapons.

As the eye was about to plunge a dagger through Adriks neck a lone figure walked into the circle. Before the orcs could realise what was happening he grabbed the head of the eye of Gruumsh and snapped it around so that its one eye was looking into the man's face. The last thing its eye saw was the face of a half-orc, a large scar prominently slicing through his right eye. The cloaked man shrugged of said cloak to reveal the toned body of a half-orc wearing shining chainmail, shield and war-axe. A holy symbol showing on his armour and shield marking him as a paladin. He roared insults at the orcs surrounding the king, managed to break them out of a trance. However, without a leader they were unorganised, running around half-heartedly fighting, and as an added bonus the dire wolves turned on their riders. This allowed the dwarven defensive line to begin pushing back the invaders, the king's bodyguards spearing the movement. The half-orc helped up the king and handed over Yelsinger,

"A fine hammer you have sire" he said in dwarvish before walking back into the fray decapitating orcs before they could even blink.

As the paladin walked through the orcs, parting them with his axe, all the blows aimed at him seemed to move away as a faint yellow glow emanated from his holy symbol. After the last orc had been dispatched Adrik searched through the broken dwarven defences in search of his saviour. Just before he gave up hope he spied the paladin in conversation with several dwarven archers, his armour looking new even after the battle. As he walked over he broke off from the conversation and knelt before the king.

" **There aint a need for that, rise, I owe ye some praise** " the paladin stood and took off his helmet.

"It was nothing your highness, it is my job to rid this world of those that threatens the light **.** " His last statement shocked Adrik

" **You would fight ye half-brothers… orc?** ".

"I recognise that some orcs give in to Gruumsh's influence more than others but there are still some reasonably friendly ones out there" replied the half-orc. After many moments of awkward silence, the paladin spoke…

"I am sorry lord, but I must leave now, there are more urgent needs out there now". He turned slowly and began walking down to the main gates. Seeing this as his one chance to leave Adrik called after him.

" **Oi…Wait… you wouldn't happen to need a wee companion on ye journey, would ya?** " This stopped the half-orc in his tracks, slowly turning his head he replied.

"The journey I am on will require little sleep, food and many of the comforts you would experience as a king" but I would need more than your word to take you with me.

This was the first time anyone had rejected his words, not sure how to respond he said: " **Well how can I convince ya to take me** ".

After moments of contemplation, the paladin responded with "well for one I would need to assess your fighting skills more, and one other thing… would you be willing to give this up, your body guards, your army and your family."

" **I ave thought bout it before already and I ave no maiden who would wail oer me going other than me mother** "

"Well then we should go to some place quite for our battle" At the finishing of that sentence Adrik nodded and led the paladin through to the king's chambers.

As they entered a large group of dwarf women squealed as the king entered and began sprinting towards him, arms open in praise.

" **We sha probly run now** " shouted Adrik over the raucous and they both sprinted at full boar to a door pointed out by the king.

They barely made it to the king's armoury without being crushed by the onrushing horde of dwarvish women. As they slammed and barred the door, Holg queried "No maidens aye… then what were they" eyebrows raised and a smug grin on his face.

" **They be admirers, and there usually not dat many** " they stepped back from the door and waited for the squealing to stop before beginning their battle.

" **Ye are hurt already, won't ya need to rest?"**

"It shall be fine sar"

To make the fight fair the two had dropped their normal attire and chose weapons to level the playing field. The paladin selected a shining suit of dwarvish ring-mail as well as a large two-handed battle axe, managing to handle it with just one, and picked up a shield to match. The king selected only a new battle hammer as Yelsinger would offer him a much higher advantage, deciding to go armour-less as normal. The two circled each other around the training area, a circle about 8 metres across with weapons and armour on small racks surrounding the battle ground. Letting out an earth shaking battle cry the half-orc rushed forward and sliced downwards with his axe, slicing thin air, and embedded it in the stone, spraying pebbles everywhere. The king had just barely avoided the blow but was a bit taken back by the strength behind the swings.

Swiftly pulling out the axe, he swung it to deflect a blow from the hammer. Adrik was not sure about this half-orcs ability but he knew his limit and he knew no normal orc could beat him. The dwarf prince was, however, sure that this battle was not going to end quickly. The two exchanged blows, occasionally managing to hit glancing blows, with the battle looking like it would never end. This was until Adrik hit the paladin as he was winding up for a strike, smashing his right leg hearing an audible CRACK as he was knocked 3 feet backwards, his leg bending a way it should not, blood and bones splattered the floor.

Adrik knew he had the upper hand and as he walked over he stopped and witnessed something that he never knew was possible. The paladin pushed himself up off the ground, grabbed his axe and shield and faced his opponent again, acting as if nothing had happened. He showed no pain as he stood on only one leg. He dropped his shield to use his two-handed axe for its intended purpose, said a prayer to Kord and lunged forward swinging his axe. Adrik struggled to fend off the savage blows, never getting rest as blow after blow he only had split seconds to reposition his axe to respond to the next one. The paladin appeared to have infinite stamina as he never faltered and his strikes never lost force. Every blow that Adrik blocked he slowly saw the shaft of the hammer begin to splinter until when he blocked a powerful downward strike it broke in two, leaving him with a half-foot long hammer. Knowing he had to end this quickly he used dirty tactics and kicked out to the half-orcs broken leg. This forced him onto one knee but he continued his attacks, showing no hindrance.

 _Damn, this guy is hard to take down._ Thought Adrik as he was defending against the attacks with ever-draining strength. Seconds later Adrik jumped back, dodged a sideward strike and slammed his hammer down onto the hands of the paladin, sending the axe flying… as well as most of his bones. Conceding, the half-orc put his hands up and said in a surprisingly calm voice.

"You have bested me king, and in that have earned your place at my side." Holding its hands to his leg, Adrik looked in amazement as it re-connected itself with a sickening SHICK and his hands seemed to heal as well, bones regrowing from nowhere. The half-orc stood and offered his hand to the king. "Are you in need of aid your highness."

" **I be fine** " he replied not wanting to reveal how spent he was.

"There is still the matter of your mother, though…"


	6. Chapter 6

**Well... the stage has been set... four (almost) completely different characters and 1 epic quest**

 **Also... shout out to my DM who we did this story with... Introlo!**

 **The story begins...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 6: And now finally the beginning of the story…

 _Sometimes… even those who appear to be completely different… end up on the same path…_

 _Surik Naoer – Elvish mage_

The meeting of our heroes begins in the Grey Mare inn, Holg and Adrik had rented a room as they arrived at Losune on the eve of Restday and had decided to indulge themselves in a quick drink before making their way to the king's company. Sitting at the bar, Holg was wrapped in his grey cloak, stopping the curious wandering eyes to see his combat gear with Silverbeak perched on his shoulder as he fed him bread. However, Adrik was standing next to a table of drunk men, vigorously swigging his beer and telling stories with warhammer and gear being shown off, for the whole bar to see. Obviously, he hadn't had much experience with thieves in his time as prince.

This however allowed Holg to spy an old friend, sitting in the corner of the bar, although as he thought he came up with an idea. Frath was sitting at the furthest reaches of the inn's bar trying to find someone to 'relieve of their burdens' as he called it. As the thief was eyeing Adriks swinging gold bag like a hungry wolf he failed to notice a man get up from the bar table and walk inconspicuously walk towards him.

That was until he felt a familiar grip push him against the wall. In between heavy breathing he panted out "Not you again…" seeing the face of the half-orc from two years ago.

"Yes, it is me… Frath... not up to thieving are we?"

"I… am… shocked that you… would so… blatantly blame me of… such impasses" The thief choked out, still having his throat suffocated. The paladin pulled back the thief's cloak and pulled out a silver hand mirror.

"Then what's this?"

"What! I can't… have my… hair looking bad". Ignoring the thief's obvious lying he got straight to the point he came to discuss.

"If you would lend me an ear I could explain how the Thief Taker General might just not be receiving another pair of hands for his mantle."

"I… would… if you… Let go… of my throat."

Holg let loose some grip off of the thief's throat, just so he could breath, but then another entered the conversation.

"Get your hands off my bounty" whispered a serpentine voice from behind Holg, while he felt a blade pressed to his throat. He released the thief, only for him to start scrambling over the table to get away… tripping as bola's wrapped around his legs. The person behind Holg moved his sword and slowly circled towards Frath.

A dragonborn came into view and was holding two swords, pointed at the paladin and thief, as well as a finely carved bow slung over his back. He had dark blue skin with a silver stripe running down his neck. The thief began slowly crawling towards a dagger strapped underneath the table (what tavern wouldn't have one). As he reached out he felt scaly foot stomp down onto his ankle causing him to recoil in pain.

"Now, now thief. I would like to collect your bounty before you make your escape". Not taking his eyes off the paladin the dragonborn reached down and lifted the thief by the scruff of the neck… only to hold up an empty cloak. Confused the ranger looked around only to be stopped short by a sharp pressure on his throat.

"Now if you know what is good for you I suggest you let me leave here… without being followed." Came the voice of Frath whispering into his ear. Before he could answer a loud THUNK was heard and the pressure was lifted off his throat. Turning, he came face to face with the bearded face of Adrik.

" **Well Ven, guess he won't be much trouble to ya no more…** " He slurred, now thoroughly drunk.

"And who shall I thank for stopping this annoyance"

" **Adrik Fireforge at ye service, prince of the Beor mountains and am currently in the situation ov travling wiv that ol pig** " He said gesturing to the paladin as Silverbeak landed on his arm gracefully. Walking over he decided to introduce himself now that the ranger had calmed down.

"Well then I think we got off on the wrong foot now, I am Holg Braveshield, paladin of the order of Kord, consort to the King and son of the smithy Jacen… and you are?"

"No…Way!"

"What?"

"It's me… Zwelious"

"…?"

"From the forge?"

Realising this revelation Holg pulled his old friend into an embrace and rejoiced at his finding.

"It has been too long… what happened to the legend I knew of!... hunting for the poor and living with the animals?"

"Sadly that life has been put behind me… I am now a bounty hunter. The taxes, tariffs and inspections that were imposed by the new lord were just too much to keep up with the job."

"How would you like the chance to return to that life?"

"KILL THE LORD! GODS NO!"

"NO! I wouldn't dare… I am wondering if you be willing to travel with me and my companions on an adventure… That includes you, thief!"

"Now why would I want to travel with the two people who only wanted to see my hands on a mantelpiece three seconds ago!"

"As much I am sure you would like to be immortalised on his mantle, I need a thief for my journey and there is a… reward in it for you"

Frath's eyes shined at the last proposition. Finally, some gold… I KNOW!... I'll just take it… sneak away and leave these suckers to wonder where I went.

"Ummmm… sure… now that you mention it I might have space on my calendar…"

Holg now had a team… he would be ready for any job the king could throw at them.

He waited for Adrik sobered up and headed for the Lord's abode.

As they walked up he thought it best to leave Zwelious and Frath outside as they did not know the customs of nobles… resulting in a very awkward half-hour of waiting.

Adrik and Holg were led into the main chamber by Carric and into the council of the Lord and King. The main chamber was a large decorated wooden chamber with large velvet rugs adorning the floor. Massive banners with the Losune emblem embroidered on it were strung from the high roof. Small braziers were stationed at equal intervals around the room, illuminating the chamber. The king sat in the Lord's throne, at the end of a large mahogany table, while the Lord accompanied him on a chair next to him. In the corner stood the king's court magician Leucius. A tiefling practised in the ways of Necromancy. Holg had known him for some time and the two had become great friends. They were in deep conversation until Carric announced their presence.

"Your Highness and the lord regent of Losune… I present to you the noble, Holg Braveshield, and Prince of Byeor, Adrik Fireforge."

The paladin kneeled and crossed his chest with his arm, acknowledging who he was with. However, the Prince did not kneel or even show respect to the king.

"Adrik! Kneel NOW!"

" **Why? Wat he ever done for me**?

Holg was fed up and punched him in the chest, causing him to kneel, before the king fully turned his head, but the action was still caught by the lord who only grinned profusely at this action.

"Ahhh… the noble paladin and a prince. How lucky am I? Now onto the matter at hand… you may stand now" Addressed the King.

" **Shouldnta been down in the virst place** " grumbled Adrik as he stood but was silenced by a look from Holg.

"What do you require your Highness." The paladin queried before his dwarf friend could cause any more trouble.

"As you know I have not yet been formally inducted into my kingship and my coronation is to be held next Winterfall… There is a slight problem." He stated as he walked up to about 4 feet away from the nobles.

"In my life before becoming high king, I liked to travel to the Empire of Kesh a lot. This… of course, required going through the Spine of the World. As you may know, it is infested with a large amount of manticores. On one particular journey, I was travelling with a caravan of merchants, me being the only human I guess you can gather what happened next… I was left there to decay until a shadow chanced upon my body and tore out my own soul. Fortunately, Leucius here was able to pull me from death and help me become the man I am here now. There is one problem that comes with this though… I have no shadow… When the coronation comes I highly doubt any of my subjects know of the properties of a shadow and would mistake me for a demon or devil, most likely resulting in my immediate death. So I would like you to do a simple job and go to the Spine of the World to kill my shadow… before my coronation… and you will be amply rewarded."

"It would be my honour, your highness." Answered the paladin.

"Good… I will leave Leucius to instruct you on the details, while I council with the lord here."

The King and lord walked back to their seats and began conversing again while the tiefling floated over.

"Holg… long time no see, and I see you have a new friend here…"

" **I'm Adrik, so what's vis reward I ear of?** "

"In good time, Sir, but for now here is what you have been given by his royal highness."

The tiefling took out a rolled up piece of parchment and four coin bags.

"This is a map and enough money to assist you on your journey… there will also be a carriage waiting for you at the city gates morrow morning."

"But there is four, there is only two of us?" lied Holg.

"I know of all the happenings in his majesty's land, even if he does not know… I do. Although I am questioning your companion's motives, I never question yours and am sure you will get the job done… and by the way… I am sure that your chainmail has grown past its wear and you will be requiring a new set on this journey… so as a gesture of thanks you will find a set of splint mail in the carriage."

"You are truly too kind Leucius… I will repay you"

"no need friend, I am sure even you will need my… powers… sometime in your life… that armour is just so that I can keep a tab on your… aliveness." With a slight chuckle the necromancer floated off back to his position next to the king and joined in the conversation.

Thanking him again, Holg left the hall, Adrik in tow, and headed for the Grey Mare. They arrived at surprising speed to find the ranger and thief still there, and walked over.

"Well then, it seems we will be going to the Spine of the world then… so pack your stuff and get ready, we leave at daybreak."

"You do realise I don't own anything…" replied Frath.

"You didn't let me finish… the king has granted us a small favour and with that… some coin."

He handed the bags over to everyone, not even flinching as he dropped it into Frath's outstretched palm. _Wait! WHAT?... he just gave it to me?_ No-one had ever trusted him that much in his life… even when they had known him for years. This guy was either really dumb or… something else. The wonder at this paladin's trust was put up a whole level as he looked at the bags contents, twenty platinum pieces were nestled in the folds of the backs leathery hide. _Hell YES!_ this is what I did this for. As Holg finished handing it out he ended the meeting by instructing them to meet up with him here in the morning… but Frath would not let him get away that easy.

"Hey! Mr Shiny… why did you give me the bag?"

"So you would be prepared for the journey…" deadpanned Holg.

"No… WHY did you give me the bag… if you knew I could easily just run off and leave you?"

"I gave you that bag because I trust you to make the right decision"

 _HA! Right decision my ass! He does realise what I do for a living!_

Having cleared that up, the four parted ways and prepared for the journey ahead.


	7. Chapter 7

**Well... I kinda tricked you last time... no adventuring yet... but now...**

 **THE ADVENTURING BEGINS!... in a tavern... as always**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 7:

 _Stand in the wake of a battlefield of millions and ask if honour matters… the silence is your answer…_

 _The sole survivor of the battle for the Iron Keep_

All the adventurers gathered supplies for the journey ahead. Holg silvered his axe, bought a riding horse and purchased several javelins and, who could forget... a personal battering ram. Adrik decided to keep his money for later purchases while Zwelious chose to decorate his scale-mail with various trinkets and wolf pelts, regaining his past ranger prowess as well as styling his weaponry with dragon script. He then placed a small coat of copper on his blade so he could channel lightning through it. Now however it was now nearing mid-moon and Frath had still not decided on something. He had gone back to his makeshift home in the clock tower.

It had been his father's job to keep it working but ever since he left Frath had kept it running and no-one noticed. He had gone to his rough, sack bed and just sat there looking at the money… it wasn't the most he had ever had but it was how he got it. Never in his whole life had he been GIVEN money… and yet this paladin had trusted him completely.

He just sat there and had fell asleep… never really coming up with a reason why. In the morning he awoke… his body telling him it was about an hour until dawn. If he lived by what he had told himself for his entire life… he would leave with his money and hope to never see that half-orc again… but if he went by his heart he should go along with this guy… the only person to ever trust him…Holg, Adrik and Zwelious were sitting in the Grey Mare inn at daybreak waiting for the thief.

" **Why we waitin ere for vat skinny fella, he not comin anyway** "

"Yes Holg, why are we waiting here… he is not coming back"

Smiling, Holg only grinned and said "You'll see"

After another five minutes, the dwarf and dragonborn had stood up to leave when Holg stopped them…

"Now, now comrades… our final member has arrived."

They turned to see a man walk in the door. He was clad in sleek leather armour as black as the night. Two large knives were attached to his thighs and a shortbow slung over his back. Not a single piece of his outfit reflected light or made a sound as he entered, his body covered by a black cowl and cape. As he reached the group he pulled back to reveal the face of Frath.

" **Well ven… I be eatin me words** "

"Hello Frath… well then let's get going since everyone is here…"

Holg stood up and walked began walking out of the door, the two others still not believing what they just saw. They made their way down to the main gates of the city and were greeted by two men. One was large, muscular and had very prominent mutton chops while the other was short, fat and bald. They introduced themselves as Mark and Butch respectively.

They were sitting at the reigns of two large, stallions who were connected to a large cart with a canvas roof. They saddled up, Holg riding his horse and the others in the cart and set off for The Spine of the World. It was an uneventful ride, not really much scenery until they laid eyes upon a town. It appeared to be completely uninhabited as they rode past, there was no defining layout except that there was a large house, which they assumed to be the mayors, at the centre. As they rode past Holg motioned for them to stop.

As they listened they heard a massive scream from the other side of town. Quickly dismounting they sprinted for the source of the sound and what they saw shocked them. Bodies were littered around the streets, bodies ripped to shreds, chunks of meats strewn across the cobblestones, and the smell of blood filled the air with a sickening odour. As Holg glanced at his companions they all took it in with a mix of disgust and fear at whatever had done this… except Frath. He was on the verge of puking as his face was green and he was hunched over, nose covered, trying not to take in all the death.

He was a thief, not a murderer… never sowing the seeds of death and helping people along to the afterlife. He stumbled after the group… hoping this was not what the whole journey because right now… he wanted out. They continued walking around town… occasionally hearing the far off screams of citizens or see faces peering out of windows. They eventually made it to the town square which was surprisingly clear of bodies. They called out and no one answered. They called again until they saw the door of the main building, that was about 200 feet away, open and a man stepped out. He had dark brown hair, green eyes and was wearing what looked to be studded leather armour.

He beckoned them inside with the wave of his arm and they began walking over… that was until another scream was heard, much closer this time. Out of one of the adjoining alleys came a little girl, running for her life, screaming at the top of her lungs. She had long blond hair, blue eyes and was average size. Then they saw why she was screaming. Behind here were three massive dire wolves, all the size of a horse, sprinting full speed after her, closing the distance very fast.

"GENEVIVE!" Came the voice of the man from the house, as he began hobbling towards her, not really going fast while drawing a scimitar. Holg, however, was much closer and stepped in to help. He charged right into the lead wolf and slammed it into the wall, causing the other two pursuing ones to direct their attention towards him.

Zwelious already had his bow out and shot the neck of one of attackers while it jumped towards the paladin. Adrik was now running at the third dire wolf, yelling a battle cry while swinging his hammer overhead. Frath had no idea what to do… he had never killed, never been in a proper fight (apart from the occasional bar fight). Sure he knew how to use a dagger and shortbow… but that was as far as it went. The little girl came running over to him and hid behind his legs, trying to escape the violence, her screaming now turned to a whimper. Holg was pinning the lead wolf against the wall, its jaws biting just inches from his face, while the other had its jaws firmly embedded in his arm, trying to rip it off, a steady trickle of blood pooling on the cobble.

Adrik had made it to the third wolf and kept it distracted as his swings were not fast enough to hit the nimble wolf. The dragonborn was still trying to hit the wolves but didn't fire for the chance of hitting his companions, so instead switched to dual short swords and jumped into the fray.

Frath still had no idea what to do and instead chose to stay back and let his companions take care of it. He looked down at the girl and saw her clutching a small book at her chest and had tears streaming down her face. Ummmm… what do I do? Before he could answer his own question he heard a low growl behind him. He swiftly turned, only to be tackled to the street by another dire wolf. It began snapping at him and was only stopped by his right arm holding it back with ever-draining strength. Genivive was just staring at what was happening.

Fraths left arm still clutched a dagger but had no room to move. He desperately tried to push it off but it took a while until with one colossal use of energy he shoved his dagger right into its left lung, kicking it off as it recoiled. It now stood 5 feet from him, head low and dripping with blood, baring its teeth. It lunged at him and bit his leg, snaring it in its teeth and began pulling. It was the most pain Frath had ever experienced in his life… he felt the bones dislocating as the wolf dragged him along the cobbled street. He stabbed at it but he could not keep it up. He felt the last bits of life draining from his body as everything turned black.

Holg meanwhile had managed to snap the neck of the first wolf and was now trying to kill the second wolf with Zwelious' help. It seemed to have a harder skin as their attacks constantly bounced off. As he cleaved one of its legs off he saw how the team was faring. His left arm was bleeding profusely after the second wolf had decided to use it as a chew toy.

Zwelious had several cuts on his legs but was still hurt, Adrik was bleeding all over the place, practically painting the street with red. When he turned to look for Frath only to see him being dragged away, unconscious, by the leg. He nodded to Zwelious who took his que and caused lightning to erupt from his mouth, engulfing the dire wolf and allowing Holg to run after the thief. As he caught up to the fourth dire wolf he began charging his divine smite and channelled it into his axe, causing it to glow with holy energy.

He smashed into the wolf, continuing through and pinning it against the wall. He however, angled his axe so that the edge was aimed for his neck. As they hit the wall the axe kept going and before the wolf knew it, its head was no longer attached to its body. Holg turned to his companion and knelt down to help him, using his lay on hands to pull him back into consciousness.

The edges of his vision returned. A dark shape was ominously standing over him, joined by two others. Well this is it… dead at the hands… well, paws of these damn dire wolves. As his vision began to focus he saw that these faces were of the companions he went with… Thank the gods. As he looked down he saw that their armour was covered in blood and meat chunks, slowly dripping onto his body. Then he abruptly threw up...


	8. Chapter 8

**Just as a fun fact... this story is a completely legit 5e that me and my friends cooked up...**

 **Well... onto another chapter...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 8:

 _The tales of old are told by the victors… but no tales tell of how those victors came to be…_

 _Arch-mage Gillran of the Elvish High Court_

After dispatching all the dire wolves, the citizens of the city began coming out of their houses and congratulated the adventurers. The man who had tried to save the girl had told them that he was the mayor and that the paladin had saved his daughter from certain death. They announced that they were holding a feast in the main hall in their honor and quickly left to clean up the town. After the fight, the group had to recover from their injuries as Adrik and Zwelious nearly passed out from blood loss… Frath actually did but Holg managed to hold out because of his armor.

Adrik and Zwelious immediately went to the room offered to them by the mayor while Holg and Frath went elsewhere. Holg went to a nearby river and began washing off… much to the liking of the nearby women. Frath meanwhile went to the opposite side of the river and called his contact. He was told to just drop a fish into any river and an hour later he would appear. As he dropped a large cod into the river it floated downriver and he sat on the side, bandaging wounds while waiting.

An hour later, he heard footsteps approaching him. He turned to see a hooded figure walking towards him, and even though it was midday he could not see its face. As it spoke it sounded like three people talking at once. Using his normal voice, telepathy and his abyssal at the same time he spoke to the thief…

"Good day Frath… what is it you require my services for?"

"Hello… I never did get your name… but anyway… I need your help with something. Collect me a list of informants from here to the Spine of the World, any files we have on the three I am travelling with … as well as a map"

"It shall be done… just make sure you still uphold your end of the deal with the guild. Supply us with stolen goods… or I might just stop coming."

Without saying another word, the man left and disappeared around a bush. His contact always creeped him out. As he walked off to see if the town had a doctor he felt something weird happen to his pack… and found that everything he had asked for was there! _GODS that guy was creepy._

They all met up outside the main hall near sundown and had heard the whole town was showing up. They had all dressed for occasion except Holg. Adrik wore the regalia of a prince, large gold buttons adorned a red suit and a deep purple, fur-lined cape flowed down his back. Zwelious chose to be more traditional and wore only his ranger's furs, a tan shirt, brown pants and various skins were clothing him. Frath decided to wear just a simple commoners outfit, tan shirt, black pants and a leather jerkin. Holg, however, had decided against bringing any other clothes than his armour, not expecting anything like this. He still wore his full combat outfit minus weapons but had luckily found he had packed his grey cloak, now wearing it as they entered the hall.

The town hall was much bigger than it looked on the outside, probably aided by magic. There was a massive table in the centre of the room, seating about 200 villagers who all turned to see the adventurers walk in. They all stood and began cheering and clapping, celebrating their heroes. The mayor walked over, Genevive at his side, and shook their hands.

"TONIGHT! My friends… we celebrate Calambia's saviours! LET THE FESTIVITIES BEGIN!"

On his word several men walked out holding large platters and set them on the table, continuing this for another 10 minutes before everything was served. The mayor guided them to the head of the table and they began eating. About halfway through the feast the little girl walked up to the paladin to thank him.

"Ummm… excuse me… sir"

"Yes little one?"

"Thank… thank you for… ummm"

"It is alright… I do not require thanks for what I did… anyone would have done that. You were very brave in managing to escape them… you might just make an adventurer yourself."

Smiling the girl hugged the half-orc and quickly scurried off somewhere.

As the festivities continued the food began to dwindle and people sought other methods of entertainment. Holg was off in the corner, arm wrestling anyone who challenged him, and had drawn quite the crowd of ladies… much to the dismay of the men walking away in shame after being defeated. Adrik was in the centre of the room telling tall tales of his many adventures and how HE had saved the half-orc from the raiding party. Frath was playing poker with a couple of other men, winning a fair sum of money. Zwelious was off in the corner whittling away at a piece of wood, eventually turning it into a miniature dire wolf. As the night continued the hall eventually began emptying until only a few people were left. Adrik was finishing off his story when the mayor walked up to him.

"Dwarf, I heard your kind have quite the stomach for spirits… I was wondering if you would be up for a contest… I'll pay of course."

" **Well ven if ye want a challenge I bet ye cannot best me at drinkin**."

"Ok then… one gold for every drink we down… Winner takes all"

" **Oh, you're on…** "

The drinking contest went on for a fair time… Adrik downing about seven full kegs before tapping out. The mayor, however, had drunk eight and looked like he wanted to keep going… even Genivive drank a full pint! Adrik handed over his seven gold coins and conceded defeat but they were rejected by the mayor…

"You can keep them… this contest… may not have been a contest at all you see. Your beer was full while mine was watered down."

" **WHY YE LITLE...** "

"No hard feelings right? I just wanted to see how funny it is when a dwarf is drunk…"

Adrik tried to swing a drunken punch at him which was easily avoided and laughed off. He was eventually dragged to bed by Frath who knew it would get out of hand very quickly. Zwelious had gone to sleep earlier as soon as he managed to sell his stature for a couple of silver. Holg had stayed outside for most of the night staring at the rising moon, preferring to be alone. He eventually went inside and headed for the room they were given.

He silently opened the door and went to his bunk. It was a small room with a nice rug, two bunk beds and a small window. He closed the door, took off his armour and crashed into the sheets. Just when he was about to go to sleep he heard a light knocking at the door. Not enough to wake anyone else up but just enough for him to notice. Slowly he pulled himself out of bed and opened the door. The little girl he saved from the dire wolves was standing there clutching a book. She was wearing leather armour, a green cape and had a dagger at her side.

"Hello little one, what are you doing here?"

"I want to go with you"

"What?... I am sorry but we cannot possibly take you with us... what did your father say?"

"My daddy doesn't know. But I don't want him to… I want to go with you."

By now, their conversation had woken Frath and Zwelious who grumbled out of bed and walked over.

"What could she possibly want at this time?" Grumbled Frath.

"Apparently she wants to travel with us"

"A child? Where we are going is no place for a child." Countered Zwelious, objecting to the idea.

Holg was watching his companions when their eyes seemed to cloud over. He felt a wave of energy flow over him and cause his hairs to stand on end.

"We should take her with us" said the dragonborn quickly.

"I agree" interrupted the thief.

Being trained as a paladin, Holg knew how magic acted and turned to the little girl, seeing her quickly hide her hand behind her back. She looked shocked when he didn't seem to be affected. He quickly grabbed her arm to see what she was holding… lipstick? Why was she… OH. He remembered a specific spell that required makeup to perform… _Friend_

"So you're a spell caster then?"

Guiltily she looked down at her feet "Yes"

"I am disappointed that you would resort to magic to get your way… but tell me the real reason why you want to come with us."

After a couple of moments, she looked back up at Holg with tears in her eyes.

"When I was young my mummy went away to another town… when she didn't come back I was sad so me and daddy went to see her but she was… gone. I learnt magic a few years later… and I want to learn to bring my mummy back. The only way I can do that is to go with strong adventurers and try to get better, but my dad won't let me… so I have to go without him."

So she wanted to be a necromancer… weird for her age but understandable given the circumstances.

"Look… here's what I'll do. In the morning, we'll go down to your father and tell him about it and see what happens next."

"NO! We need to go now." She said defiantly, stomping her foot. Laughing in the back of his head he stepped forward, causing her to recoil just at that.

"Look little one, I fight for what is just and right and currently kidnapping a child is not on that list."

"I'm not a child! My name is Gen and I am 12 now and my birthday is in two weeks! I say we go now."

Ahhh… how much she reminded him… of him. Before he could answer a shrill scream pierced the night. He quickly pulled open the window and looked outside. The moon had turned a dark shade of red and he could see most of the villagers boarding up the windows and doors. He knew a blood moon meant trouble so leaving tonight was a bad plan.

"Well, I believe leaving now would be a bad plan… we wouldn't make it very far."

"Don't worry I have that covered" She walked over and moved the mat to reveal a trap door which creaked open, sending dust everywhere. She lit a torch she had in her pack and began climbing down.

"What are you waiting for?"

"You do realise we need to get ready, we aren't exactly ready for a fight"

"Ok then… meet you down there"

"NO, stay here… once we are ready we will think about it more"

The companions got ready rather quickly except for Holg who spent a large portion of the time putting on his splint mail, having no one else to help. Zwelious was being funny and used one of the feathers on his armour to tickle Adriks ear until he woke, nearly smashing the dragonborn in the nose for doing that. After they had geared up, they again questioned the young mage.

"First of all, we need your father permission..."

"But…"

"No complaints… we go now"

Her face contorted into a weird scowl and Holg knew he had won. He slowly opened the door and began walking towards the mayor's room when he was stopped by a strange sound. A chittering followed by a loud crash was heard and splintered wood flew everywhere. The two front hall doors had been busted down and his armour had protected him from a torrential hail of shrapnel. He quickly popped his head up to see what had done this… a moment later he was sprinting down the hall again.

"Ok then... down we go"

He hastily ushered them down without another word… only thinking about what had just entered the house… praying that the mayor would survive the night.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry but uploads won't be happening for a while as my editor is taking a holiday...**

 **That still won't stop this from being released... so... ON WITH THE STORY!**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 9:

 _There are two types of people in this world... the great... and the greater_

 _Lord Narune of Buck Court_

They arrived in a dungeon corridor, barely able to see. The chamber was a little narrow and small but was just wide enough for them to stand. The walls were covered in a thick layer of dust and it stank of decay. The half-orc and dwarf led because of their acute sight in dim light and led the companions to the next chamber. They arrived in a large stone room, only one exit on the other side and the two parallel walls were lined with demon war masks. Seeing this Holg activated his divine sense and his nostrils filled with the foul odour of the nine hells.

The paladin reached over to inspect one of them, but as soon as his fingers contacted the mask a very high pitched scream filled the chamber. Everyone immediately began clutching the sides of their heads and collapsed on the floor, writhing in agony. The paladin was barely able to stand as it took all his strength to bring his axe up and cut the mask in two. It stopped and everyone got back up again.

"GREAT JOB PIG! Now I can't hear nothin"

"I must destroy these… they are a source of evil"

He simultaneously went down every wall, smashing the masks with his axe. This went on until he reached the last mask, he swung his axe and it hit the mask… only to bounce off. He tried again but with the same result. He could see the mask begin to glow a faint red, and begin to float off the wall. Channelling the power of Kord he used all his strength to cleave the mask in two, both halves falling to the floor with a loud clang.

Knowing the room was clear, he began walking to the exit. When Frath walked past he heard a faint sound coming from the mask. He knelt down and inspected the back of the mask. On the back, there was only one word written in abyssal … still readable after being split in two… Asmodeus. As soon as the word left his lips the mask glowed a powerful red and clamped back together. The others turned to see the mask floating about a foot off the ground. It turned to Gen and sped forward, attaching to her face.

The girl stood straight for a while until she spoke with an evil, demonic voice.

"Fools, I am now free from my tomb, now… DIE!"

She lunged forward with her dagger towards Holg and he was barely able to parry the strike. The possessed child continued striking the paladin, getting increasingly better with each strike.

"Hit the mask! But don't hit her!"

Frath and Zweilios drew their crossbow and bow, knocking an arrow and prepared to fire. When Holg saw they were ready he grabbed Gens knife-holding wrist and pulled her into a headlock. When they saw their chance the two fired… but their arrows simply disintegrated on impact. Holg could sense its energy weakening… not by much but still something.

"Keep firing… it's working"

"But they did nothing!"

"Trust me! Just do it!"

The two knocked another arrow but before they could get a good lock Gen made her move. With a burst of strength, she twisted out of his headlock and stabbed him in the side. He tried to grab her but she jumped away in the nick of time. The mask was gaining more control over its host every second. Adrik moved in and smashed her on the side, much to the dismay of Holg. However, the blow merely was ignored and its force transferred to the mask…

"Fire at will, the mask will absorb it."

The four then constantly began battering away at the demon-infested girl and the paladin slowly felt the energy within it drain away until it was a trickle. Gen was now shaking nearly uncontrollably, skin as pale as a ghost.

"Stop now or you'll kill her!"

Holg charged his divine smite, arms and weapon glowing with energy and smashed it into the mask. It let out a torrential roar and fell off Gen, clattering on the floor now truly useless. Just as the girl fell Holg caught her… the girls face looking positively lifeless and her breathing had stopped. Knowing he could have killed her, he expended some of his Lay on Hands to bring her to consciousness. She spluttered and coughed up blood, her skin slowly gaining redness. Her eyes were filled with fear as she stared into Holgs eyes, seeking an explanation.

"Young one, you were… taken over by an evil spirit… we did what we could."

"I…"

"Shhhh… stay quiet, rest and we shall get you out of here."

He hefted her over his shoulder and they continued down the hallway. They had to fight off a number of skeletons, including an unusually large minotaur skeleton. Two gelatinous cubes had caused them some trouble… only being defeated by a torrent of well-placed throwing knives from Frath. until they eventually made it to a room filled with smoke. As they stumbled around in the darkness they were having trouble trying to find their way.

"Where the hell are we?" Zwelious asked.

"Ya think I now?"

They continued stumbling around until Frath picked up on a small whispering. Small voices talked and sounded almost like the wind.

"... ... ... ..."

"... ... ..."

"Guys I hear something, coming from… that way"

Frath grabbed the arms of his companions and pulled them towards the source. They eventually made it to a certain area of the mist that was clear… or so they thought. In the centre of the area was a grey crystal that seemed to be the object creating the mist and there were four mephits forming some sort of ritual. Holg signalled for Frath to sneak towards the gem, the thief disappearing in the mist.

"Hey over here!" yelled the paladin as he charged towards the mephits.

"..."

They all charged him and battered into his shield as they collided. The four mephits were fighting the paladin as he stood and struggled to fend off the attacks. Zwelious notched an arrow and managed to take one out with two well-placed shots to the head. Adrik charged in but they were too fast for his wide swing, a problem also for Holg. Frath meanwhile was sneaking around in the mist until he was a foot from the strange crystal. He reached out and plucked it from the pedestal. All the remaining mephits immediately stopped and headed for the thief.

"Itss hasss the gemsss"

"Killsss it"

He could understand what they were saying now…. Though that wouldn't be much use if he was dead. He drew a dagger and swiped at them to try and fend them off. He sliced at the lead mephit and succeeded in cutting what looked to be its chest. It flew back, then attacked again with its two compatriots. Frath was barely able to bring his dagger up in time to block… nothing. As he was about to be hit Zwelious had shot an arrow and managed to pin two of them to a wall while Holg had grabbed the third and smashed it into a wall, causing it to go up in a cloud of smoke. Adrik walked up to the wall where the other two were held and used his hammer to smash the arrow deeper into the wall, crushing them in the process.

Now that it was over Frath looked at the crystal. It was completely dull and only seemed to create a very small amount of smoke that dissipated very quickly. He quickly pocketed it and the group continued through the catacombs. As they continued on they came to a doorway leading to a weird angel statue. As everyone walked through Holg was now covering their backs and was behind the group. As Frath walked through he heard a faint clicking from the doorway…

"RUN!"

Genevieve, Adrik and Zwelious managed to make it through but just as Holg was about to… a portcullis slammed in front of him.

"Don't worry about me… I'll find another way out"

Adrik nodded and continued the group forwards. After another couple of minutes walking they eventually came to a large open area with blood red moonbeams illuminating the chamber through a hole in the ceiling. Just as they were about to make a makeshift grappling hook they heard an old voice talk from above.

"Well well well… what do we have here?"

Frath and Gen were able to dive behind a nearby statue and hide before the perpetrator came into view. A manticore swooped down from the hole in the roof and landed without a sound. It was normal in all aspects despite two very defining features. Normally a manticore would usually have a face of someone in their youth while this had that of an old man's and its tail seemed to be literally covered in spines, looking more like a mace than a tail. It was stooped over the hole, its head peering down at the prey it had captured. The entire front of its body was covered with scratches and marks, obviously made by some form of make-shift weapon. Amber eyes had tiny pupils and were cut to slits as its eyes narrowed.

"Well speak up… or I will have to kill you…"

Zwelious stepped forward, knowing that it was not joking and made sure Adrik did not anger it.

"Great beast of the skies… We are but humbly passing through these tunnels… hoping to find our way back to the surface… we will not be any hindrance to your endeavours"

Adrik hated these beasts for what they were but knew that they stood no chance of defeating it.

"Oh, I know you won't stop me… but there is still the matter of why I am here… I smell something… the blood of humans."

Zwelious knew he would have to pull off some next level lying to get past the manticore.

"That would be correct… me and my dwarf friend here had to… dispose of some business when we came here"

"Well, that's good… then I guess you won't mind that me and my pack is killing everyone in the measly town above you…"

At those words, Genivive let out a small whimper… something that not even Zwelious could here with his enhanced senses… but definitely something a manticore could hear.

"Well then… you were not that thorough then… there is still one left behind that statue over there."

At hearing this Frath froze solid... he only managed to regain himself when he heard the heavy footfalls of a monster walking towards him. He sprang up, grabbed Gen and sprinted out the way they came… hearing words from his companion's mouths.

"HUMANS… we shall help you hunt it down…"

After Holg had been trapped behind the portcullis he began looking around the room for any other entrances. Seeing there was no other way out other than the door with the portcullis, he tried knocking it down. He sheathed his axe over his back and, using his portable battering ram, he began smashing it with all his strength. The door buckled but did nothing more than send down some dust from the roof. Seeing this was going nowhere, he stopped and leant on the wall, trying to think of another way out. As he leant on the wall he felt it slightly bow… so he did the only possible course of action… smashing right through it.

With an almighty crash, the entire section of wall collapsed and he emerged without a scratch. He took in the surrounding area and looked for his options. Besides the entrance he had made there was a new section of wall beside it that had caved away, a river leading deeper into the cavern system and a blood red light was illuminating the cavern from small holes in the ceiling. He pulled out a torch and sliced it against the wall, causing the oil coating to catch alight and illuminate the cavern further. As he was about to go through the open wall that lead to the direction of his friends he was stopped by a strange sound.

A muffled shuddering sound echoed around the cavern and seemed to be coming from where the river led to. Curious, he knew that there was nothing that Adrik couldn't handle so he followed the flow. After wandering a rocky side path, he came to a rusted door to his left. It had been at least a century since anyone had touched it and dust was clinging to it like a moth to a torch. He reached out and shook it.

Without even intending to, it broke off its hinges and fell onto the floor. As the dust settled, he came to see a tiny, square room with a small chest in front of him. It was sitting in the centre of the room with a couple of boxes stacked half-heartedly behind it with a few rolls of cloth wraps in the corner. He cautiously un-holstered his axe and began to pry the lid open with its blade. As it began opening it suddenly moved! Sharp teeth were revealed on the top and bottom of the lid and eyes opened from the top. It jumped over his axe before he could react and slammed its jaws onto his pauldron. Luckily the armor held and he was able to shove it off.

It landed about a foot away and immediately lunged again. This time, Holg was ready and swung his axe into its side. The wood splintered and it was slammed into the wall. It jumped back onto the stacked boxes and snarled at him. Lunging forward he misjudged his swing and it smashed into the box but not at the chest-thing. It took the opportunity and latched into his helmet, sinking its teeth into his forehead. He dropped his axe and shield and latched both hands onto it. He yanked hard and it eventually let go, flying into the box pile again. This time, before it could get up, Holg loosed a javelin and speared it, pinning it to the wall in the process.

It went limp as the javelin cleanly sliced through the wood. He pulled it out, bringing a large section of the wall with it, and pulled off the chest-thing. He had heard of things like this… they could turn into everyday items and tended to ambush their prey. He recalled they were name mimics, foul creatures with no other purpose than to make adventurers lives hell. As he inspected the body he opened it again and saw something strange inside. A large, flawless ruby was sitting in its throat. cautiously he reached out and quickly grabbed it, still not quite sure if it was dead yet. Making sure he had left nothing he continued down the tunnel… until he came a strange spring.

Its water glowed with energy and just standing near it send shivers down his spine. He kneeled down and filled his water skin with the water and took a sip. A holy aura emanated throughout his throat and he felt revitalised. The cuts on his forehead healed and he no longer felt tired from lack of sleep. Filling the last of his water skin he continued walking again and came to a crossroad, where two streams met, when the strangest sight came into view…


	10. Chapter 10

**Another day another chapter**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 10:

 _Sometimes… Running is the best option… and just about every option after that…_

 _Gregare – the assassin master of the Black Huntsmen_

Frath only had one thing going through his mind… RUN! He knew he could outrun the manticore here because it couldn't fly but he had to lose it quickly. He backtracked as fast as he could, hearing the ever-present roaring of the manticore and the heavy steps of his companions. As he was able to finally gather his thoughts he remembered a big problem… the portcullis. He swore under his breath and continued sprinting. When he eventually came to something he had not noticed before. A small section of the cave to his right had a river running through it. He veered off and quickly began following it, hearing the splashing of the manticore's paws behind him.

As he continued running, the initial adrenalin from the encounter had faded and he felt his lungs nearly collapse from pain. He stumbled for a second and heard a snapping of jaws just behind his head… accompanied by a loud scream from Gen. He quickly pulled her in front of him and checked. She was pretty shaken by the bite, but was unharmed. He quickened his pace, much to the disapproval of his muscles. As he was about to turn a corner, an arrow just barely missed his head. He turned to see Zwelious, bow in hand, just about to notch another arrow.

True betrayal stabbed at his heart as he lost view of the dragon-born. He continued sprinting and was not sure he could make it another minute. Luck was on his side as he rounded another corner and saw Holg, torch in hand, walking towards the cross-road he was about to run through. He waved frantically until he got his attention then, without warning, threw Genevive towards him…

Holg had just barely seen Frath sprinting from around the corner when a flurry of green cloth was thrown at him. He hastily dropped his torch and caught Gen, making sure she was ok. She didn't look worse for wear so he changed his attention back to the thief. He was panting heavily and didn't even stop to explain, he just kept running. Before he could call after him, a colossal roar echoed throughout the cave and a manticore burst out from where the thief had gone. Completely ignoring the half-orc, he continued chasing after the human. Now, however, it had the room to fly and it jumped up into the air and began gliding after the thief. He heard a shout from Adrik and turned to see the two other adventurers chasing after him. He picked up his torch and began sprinting after them. When he caught up he finally got the explanation he needed.

" **Ye took yer time Pig… look weve got to stop this here overgrown cat from snatchin up our thief**."

"How exactly did this happen?"

This time, Zwelious answered… "Well... we pretended that we were human hunting and now we have to pretend to be chasing after your friend or become extra chow for that… thing"

Adrik now showing a guilty look conceded defeat and continued running. Due to his short stature, he wasn't quite keeping pace but his dwarven nature allowed him to keep pace… even when he was just about to collapse from exhaustion. They continued running until the came to a completely straight cavern… That's bad

As soon as the manticore was into the open air it flapped its wings and glided towards the fleeing figure of Frath. They knew this would be the end… until Zwelious spotted their only hope. High above them were sleeping Piercers. As he was running he calmly unsheathed his bow and notched an arrow, stopping… and waited.

The manticore was now about 20 feet behind Frath, its fanged maw opened, ready to have its next meal. The thief was ready to give up when he tripped on a stone as he was distracted. He turned just in time to see the fast-approaching jaws of the manticore and closed his eyes, waiting for death… but it never came.

As Zwelious saw Frath trip he knew he had to act fast. With pinpoint accuracy, he fired his arrow… watching it sail up in the air… until it hit just above the Piercer, dislodging it. It was startled for the first couple of feet it fell but regained its composure as it saw its target beneath…

Holg watched as, at a moment's notice, he heard an arrow being loosed and Piercer delving straight for the manticore, knocking it a hairs-breadth away from Frath and causing it to crash into the floor. He sprinted full bore, using up his last reserves of energy to make it to his fallen comrade. He helped him up and they continued sprinting out of the cavern.

The manticore had felt a sharp pain on its head and its vision went black. It felt its wings falter and it crashed to the floor, feeling its tail snap. It wrestled with the unknown beast on top of its head but it would not let go. He continued batting at it with its claws but to no avail. The manticore let out a guttural roar as it angled its broken tail to fire at this creature. It fired tree tail spikes and he felt the thing above him shudder… and fall off. The manticores left eye was too swollen to see but he only needed one to know that his prey was gone. He knelt down and sniffed for their scent… picking up the pungent odour of a human… no wait… there was two... the hunt was truly on.

It took the adventurers some time to get back to the entrance where the manticore had attacked. It was significantly more difficult given the fact that Frath's ankle had been discovered to be sprained from the fall. They climbed out with the help of makeshift grapples and were shook to the core with what they saw. The village was burning, bodies were strewn around, people were screaming as their houses were smashed to pieces by the attack. Even when they were killed, the manticore's did not stop, absolutely ripping them to shreds so that they didn't even resemble anything that used to be living. They made their way to the mayor's house to try and find their mounts, sticking to the shadows as the dark shapes of the manticores were flying overhead.

When they managed to make it to the stables they found that the cart was slightly on fire and Mark, Butch and Holg's horse were no-where to be seen. They walked over to see what they could salvage from the wreck but were interrupted by a strange, strangled sound. They overturned the cart and found Butch, lying limp and near dead, on the ground with a tail spike in his chest. Holg set to work, utilising his Lay on Hands to try and heal him but he was bleeding too badly to be able to bring him back. After a minute of Holg desperately trying to cauterize the wound, his pained breathing stopped and he went limp. The group stood there, not quite processing the gore until they heard another cry.

"GENIVIVE"

They turned to see the mayor running towards them, fireballs in both hands and desperately trying to get towards them. Gen broke out of Holg's grip and sprinted towards him. As Holg watched he saw something that turned him cold. He sprinted towards Gen before she could get to the mayor and she cried out. Holg roared to the mayor to dive but it was too late. The manticore from the tunnels swooped down and snatched him from the ground. Gen screamed after him and could do nothing but watch. Frath and Zwelious fired off a few shots with their bows, but none were hits. Genivive collapsed into a crying heap and was cradled in Holgs arm.

"There there… everything is going to be alright"


	11. Chapter 11

**Welcome back to the epic tale of a team of orphans... to put it simply...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 11:

 _"Well... that was unexpected..."_

 _Siege master Ratanakaf after the southern tower was taken by flying elephants_

As they continued tracking the flight path of the manticores until they set eyes upon something strange. Far off in the distance, a strange pyramid structure rose up in the middle of the forest. Its sides were perfectly flat and were a dull black, barely visible thanks to the red moon. There looked to be only one entrance and exit, a strange doorway that glowed a faint white. When the manticores flew into this doorway they simply disappeared. This continued as they all dragged what seemed to be screaming human victims through the foul portal. When all were through the door closed and the pyramid shimmered out of existence.

The group stood there for some time, the wailing of injured and the stench of the dead were the occupying force of the air. Silverbeak flew overhead, cawing at the scene below. The town burned around them, with no way to stem the fire that spread like a plague. Finally coming to their senses they began heading out from the village, in the last know direction they had seen the Spine of the World. When they had reached a nearby forest they stopped and set up camp, all of them trying to sleep away the horrors of the night.

They woke in the morning to crickets chirping and birds singing. They had been well rested and the wounds they had sustained during the last night had healed over. As they continued walking, they came across a cobbled path that swayed through the valleys and hills that were dotting their path. They followed the path until it neared sunset with no sights of civilisation in sight. That was until they set eyes upon a small thatch hut that was set at the top of a small hill, a far way off in the distance. It was surrounded a small patch of vegetables behind a rough wood fence, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A small cobbled path split from the main road and led to this house only illuminated by a single lantern set upon a fixture on the porch. The adventurers set out to the house, their torches would not get them through the night.

As they set foot directly in front of the makeshift gate that barriers the garden, they heard a noise come from the hut. A strange muffled barking emanated from the house until out of nowhere a dog suddenly appeared in front of the door and began running towards them. It was not covered in fur like most other is Oerik but instead had a dark, red hide. Its eyes were red and it had claws the size of knives. The group quickly readied their weapons, making to kill the creature that was to kill them. Just before it reached them it stopped as a frail old man opened the door and strolled out.

He was bald except for a long, grey beard. He wore a white shirt, leather jerkin, leather breeches and went barefoot. As he traversed the path the dog slowly began moving back towards him until they were level with one another. The old man held out his hand and Holg shook it, slightly confused at what was happening.

"I am sorry about my dog here… he does not like visitors… which brings me to the point of asking, why you are here?"

"We are sorry to intrude upon your property old man but we are in need of shelter. We barely managed to escape a town that was razed to the ground by Manticore's and we have not stopped since."

"Well then in you come… I would be glad to provide bedding for people such as yourselves, you are obviously adventurers."

The old man ushered them inside the home and they rested. They walked inside to find a shack with little clutter but had many shelves which housed various potions, ones that the man explained, were for medicinal purposes only. For a while they conversed and shared stories, finding out the dog was, in fact, a blink dog and that the old man had recently lost his wife. They were shown her body that was laid underneath the house. She had apparently died many years ago yet her body had not yet begun to shrivel or even begin to lose its resemblance of the person… It was almost as if she had not died at all…


	12. Chapter 12

**Hmmmm... we are yet to even scrape the surface of this story...**

 **It is not even getting half-way there and the plot twists are going to happen pretty fast...**

 **PLOT TWISTS EVERYWHERE!**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 12:

 _All it takes is one bite... and all you have taken is gone..._

 _Tureail Sirene - Leader of the Werewolf Hunting Guild of Losune_

The next morning, they awoke to the delicious smell of bacon and eggs. They quickly dressed into their gear and sprinted into the kitchen where they found 5 plates of steaming hot breakfast. Eggs and beef were sitting on a tiny saucer. The old man was already seated, half-way through the cooked meal, so the group sat down and began eating. After the awkward silence that was experienced throughout the meal they set about packing their things for the journey ahead. Just before they set out they were stopped by the old man.

"Before you go could I ask a favour"

"I suppose it would be the least we could do for you"

Without another word, he beckoned them to follow and lead them out of the house towards the forest. The journey was silent as they followed the old man a painfully slow pace. They had to make sure that they did not out-walk the man as not to seem rude but it had taken about 5 minutes just to reach the trees. They had walked for almost the entire day until it was nearing nightfall, marvelling at the amount of stamina this old man had to be able to walk for this long. The man finally stopped much to the relief of the group and they looked around at the area they were in. It was a small grove that was surrounded by a thick tree-line except for the path that they came through. At the very centre, at least 30 feet from the nearest tree sat a stump that was about 5 feet wide. The amount of age-rings that were seen indicated the tree to be over 200 years old.

"This is the resting place of my first wife"

"I thought the woman in the house was your wife"

"She is… but I have had two…"

"So why did you take us here?"

"I never found out how she died… but I have a suspicion as to how she was killed… I just need to make sure"

"I am sorry but no-one in our group has innate spell-casting abilities that would allow us to find the cause of her death."

The old man's eyes drooped and he slumped to the ground.

"That is alright… I do not mind if you cannot do anything… following me here was enough anyway"

As the two continued conversing Frath and Adrik began unpacking their rations for dinner while Zwelious went and inspected the tree. When they had arrived in the small grove he had felt a strong connection to nature emanating from the tree but he dismissed it, seeing as it was dead. As he walked over he felt a strange pull that caused him to reach out and touch the tree stump. As soon as his hand had made contact he instantly was pulled into a deep trance and visions of the past filled his visions. He saw a dryad with the man… only this was many years ago.

The dream skipped ahead and he saw the dryad lying against the tree, blood pooling on the ground. The dream skipped ahead again and he saw a werewolf standing over the dryad, just about to swipe it's claws to finish off the kill, it's right shoulder bleeding. As it did the dream cut out again and it skipped to the old man grieving over the fallen dryad… but he saw something that shocked him… his right shoulder was bleeding.

Zwelious immediately pulled out of his trance to find the group staring at the old man as he sat there convulsing on the ground.

"What happened?" queried the dragonborn.

"It just…. Happened"

Zweilious looked up to see a full moon illuminating the ground…

I thought the full moon was last night? Either the world was messed up or… Something was messing it up.

"Step back! He is a were-creature!"

The adventurers all stood their ground and drew weapons. They watched as he began sprouting fur and his body grew in size, sporting muscles that replaced his spindly arms. When it had completed the transformation it stood there until it saw the adventurers… then promptly began running at them, teeth bared.

Adrik stepped in front of the group and swung his hammer into the werewolves' head. It didn't even bother dodging as it slammed into the creature, not even slowing it down as it shoved the dwarf out of the way and began heading for Zwelious. This time, Frath sprinted forward, nimbly avoided an arcing swing then jumped onto it's back. The thief then began repeatedly stabbing knife after knife into the creature's back, but doing nothing to halt its advance. As the fight raged Holg thought back to his training as a paladin by the monks. He had been informed of the weaknesses of all creatures in Oerik and the planes beyond. As he searched his memory he remembered that those affected by were-diseases had a resistance to those weapons not designed to fell those beasts.

"Everyone! Regroup! We need a new strategy. Zwelious give us some breathing room"

On que, the ranger notched one of the special arrows he stored in his quiver. He let loose and the arrow sailed wide of the target… but he had not missed. A rope was tied to the end of the arrow was fired, as well as another that he had notched not a second after he had fired the first. He let loose and the rope wound its way around the legs of the werewolf and brought it crashing to the ground. This gave Frath and Adrik the opportunity to get back to the others.

"Frath I need you to head back to the hut… look at the shelves with potions and try and find a wolf's bane potion, it should be grey with silver streaks"

Without a word the thief nodded and sprinted off back towards the house at a blindingly fast speed.

"Adrik I need you to distract the beast so I can land hits with my axe. Since it is silvered it will be able to hurt it, just make sure not to get hit."

"Aye… you got it"

Adrik sprinted over to the werewolf as it tried to get out of the rope… and did something no-one would expect. He had heard of the might of were-creatures and knew that they could bring power to those who embraced the curse placed upon them. He turned to check that the other were not watching and pulled off the bracer on his left arm. He held it out in front of the beast, and without hesitation it bit into it, leaving behind a large red bite mark which he covered back up and prepared for the actual fight.

"Zwelious, I need you to prepare one of your broadhead arrows, preferably non-lethal"

"Got it"

"Head up that tree" Holg motioned to a tall oak that had little foliage but was covered in branches, "and fire on my command"

The dragonborn sheathed his bow and began climbing up the tree.

Holg drew his axe and waited…

Frath made it back to the house and frantically searched the racks of potions. After about a minute of searching, he had glazed over everything and still had not seen anything remotely grey. Running out of options he stopped and looked around… until he laid his eyes upon a specific cupboard that appeared to be locked… No problem though the thief as he cracked his knuckles and pulled out his lock pick…

A minute later he was sprinting full speed back down the track with wolf's bane potion in hand. When he made it back to the clearing he saw Adrik and Holg battling the werewolf, the half orc's axe searing large marks into the hide of the beast. As soon as Holg saw him he quickly motioned to a nearby tree. As Frath looked up he saw the dragonborn with hand open. He threw the potion with expert aim and it was caught by Zwelious. The ranger quickly pierced the stopper with his arrow and let the potion seep onto the arrow.

As soon as it was coated he dropped the vial and notched the arrow. As soon as Holg had seen this he jumped on the back of the werewolf and kicked out its legs, bringing it to his knees, then he opened its mouth and held it there while Adrik jumped and pinned down its arms. Zwelious lined up the shot and fired… the arrow soaring perfectly through the air until it hit the back of the creature's windpipe. The arrow did not pierce the were wolves throat but the potion was administered to him and he slumped into unconsciousness.

A couple of minutes later they were back in the man's house and were tending to his wounds but they could still not stir him out of his slumber. They went to sleep after they had done all they could… knowing that in the morning they might get some answers.


	13. Chapter 13

**Well... I've had writers block... as you could probably tell by the three weeks of nothing...**

 **So as a reward... quickfire chapters!**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 13:

" _The lord of the highest pit of hell foolishly claimed that no man can kill him… well about a couple of days after news reached us that a man named Gnome Ann had slain him… the irony…"_

 _Lord Executioner for the Order of the Gaunlet – Serenator Palmer_

They slept through the night, haunted by dreams of the slaughter at Calambia, but Holg's dreams were interrupted by a foul stench. He woke immediately, his divine sense indicating the presence of a being of evil. As he sniffed the air he smelt a faint sign of a divine being as well but he had been tuned to smell those of evil so it was drowned by a smell like that of rotting flesh. The dog sturred and began pawing at the door, conflicted between leaving and protecting his master. Holg comforted the dog and armed himself, walking out into the night. The outside air was cold and inhospitable, his warm breath leaving trails of smoke. Fog clouded his vision and he was unable to see further than 10 feet in front of him. The crunching of the stones underfoot was the only sound he heard on this strange night as he walked around the property, following the stench of the damned.

As he wandered around the area, scouting for any signs of activity he saw the mist shift around a point in front of his view. He drew his axe and steadied his shield.

"Show yourself!"

At this command, an imp slowly stepped forward through the mist and regarded the paladin with interest. As this happened a second shape shifted the mist behind it, revealing a larger bodied creature behind it.

"You… come out as well… or I will be forced to remove your little friend here"

The creature shifted and revealed the one thing he was not expecting. Out of the fog crept a golden dragon. It stood well above his height, he was wondering if he would even be able to stand up to its shin. Shimmering skin lined the magnificent beast and its eyes looked like flowing gold. Holg was barely able to stand against this creature but he was able to hold his ground.

"I highly doubt you would be able to do anything half-orc"

"Why are you aligning with this imp magnificent dragon" Holg especially hated talking to dragons as they always viewed themselves above others, never considering anything other than the fact they are a dragon.

"Well now that you ask I am searching for my daughter… and this imp was travelling the same way I was so we decided to talk."

"You… a creature so great and devoted to seeking out evil?"

"I have not gone on the path that my brothers have sought out, I prefer to seek out the more important things in life… life gold"

Holg knew of the undying hunger of the Golden dragons, ever wanting to consume the very material that they seem to be made of. Before he could say another word the dragon began moving again.

"Where are you going?"

"I smell my kin ahead… inside that weak thatch hut"

"There is no such thing of the likeness within that hut… we have been in there for two days now… I think I would have noticed a dragon"

"Then you must be mistaken mortal… there is a dragon in that hut…"

"Could you at least let me collect my companions"

"I will allow you that luxury… but try and run and I will hunt you down"

As Holg reached the hut again the other still had not even stirred…

"Oi! EVERYONE UP!... NOW!"

The other bolted up straight and Frath somehow had a knife in his grip within the second.

"We need to leave now… we have a problem"

" **An wat would that problem be ai?** "

"Just get your things… and the man… and his dog"

After about 5 minutes they assembled outside and waited for Holg who had gone out into the mist after something. They were just about to go in search of their companion when they heard a loud rumbling. The paladin was seen walking towards them with something big behind him. As it came closer they saw it had some sort of weird jump or limp that it walked with… that was until they saw was it was… it was a dragon… or more specifically the foot of the dragon.

It was walking behind the paladin and he did not seem to be too bothered by it so they lowered their weapons that they had instinctively drawn. When it saw them it spoke, it's voice sounding deep and gravely.

"So… these are your… companions?"

"Yes"

"And they all believe they have not seen another dragon"

"Yes"

"Well then… I need to see for myself…"

The great beast lowered its head and the frills along its neck arched upwards as the heat within its chest swelled.

"WAIT"

The dragon only just heard the feeble cry and shut its mouth just in time, smoke trailing out of his nose as the fires were stemmed.

"I think there might be an easier way to do this"

"There might be but if I burn this insignificant thing down my kin will survive the blast so I can find her quicker."

"Just wait here… please oh mighty beast"

"Your flattery has done little to stop this… but"

"Just wait here… please oh mighty beast"

"Your flattery has done little to stop this… but you gave yourself a minute to complete your petty search."

The paladin sprinted back into the house and ran down to the room they were shown by the old man. His wife was lying on a stone slab, looking the same as she had when they were last shown her… that was when Holg realised something…

As the other waited they saw an imp slowly scampering towards the house, Zwelious drew an arrow and motioned for his companions to ready for a fight… but just as he was about to fire the dragon put his talon in the way.

"That imp is under my protection… so unless you want to be torched into a dwarf, human and dragonborn barbeque then I suggest you back off"

Reluctantly the crew sheathed weapons and waited for the return of their paladin. When they finally saw him walking out he was holding someone…

" **Oi… pig wat ye doin wiv his wife ere?** "

"I would not call this maiden his wife anymore"

" **Wat?** "

As the paladin set the woman down in front of the dragon it stooped down and sniffed her. It straightened back up to full height when it seemed satisfied then it opened its maw and blew a hot gust of wind towards the woman. As if awoken by the breath of the dragon, the girl's eyes opened, she sat up on the ground, shocking everyone. The dragon stooped down again and began muzzling the woman who was obviously the dragon he had inquired about… but she was human? As they continued watching the woman began to undergo a strange transformation. Her skin began turning gold and gained a metallic sheen. Her eyes widened and the pupils turned to slits. They watched as this apparently normal woman turned into a fully-fledged dragon. She did not stand as tall as the larger but was still as big as a horse. When they had completed the talk they began conversing in their mother tongue.

"Where have you been for all these years… I was worried for your safety"

"Dad… you know how it goes… I went away to learn about the other things in our world… except I kinda went to play dead when these weird pig-things attacked me and my human husband… but I never woke up"

"Well, you did a good thing… I am glad you have gained a better understanding of the human world"

As they continued conversing Frath quietly moved over to Zwelious.

"Hey… what are they saying?"

"They are talking about the dragon custom of quietly moving out into the world to gain a better view of the other races that occupy it with them"

"You… you can't change shape like that?... can you?"

"No… only true-bloods have the ability to polymorph"

Before he could ask another question he heard a strange sound. He turned to see a red imp scamper into the house through the window. He quickly grabbed Holg's attention and informed him of the situation. The paladin somehow managed to sneak up to the house unheard, looking in through the same window the imp had entered with.

He saw the little imp scampering the house gathering all the potions he could get his hands on. These potions were however not the same ones the group had seen sitting on the shelves in the house. It was seen lifting them from underneath floorboards that were now laying to the side of the trapdoor.

"Demon spawn what dare you steal from, in this man's absence!"

The imp bared its teeth and ran literally into the walls of the house and the two heard it running though the insides of the house.

"Dragon! Your imp is stealing potions from this man's house! Tell him to cease immediately!"

The dragon looked up and seemed to be looking through the house. He then lumbered over and started to inhale air as he charged for another blast of fire at the house.

"NO!"

This time, however, his cries fell on deaf ears as fire erupted from the dragon's mouth and reduced the hut to a burning pile of ashes. What they did not expect however was that the potions inside the hut began to explode, sending shards of glass everywhere. Holg and Zwelious were able to shrug it off as it pinged off their armour, only receiving minor annoyances except for the half-orc as a piece managed to lodge itself in his forehead, but the others were not so fortunate. Glass embedded into the thief's armour and drew blood from his less protected skin, Adrik had protection from the glass due to his dwarven skin but it still cut huge gashes across his chest. The dragons were completely unaffected and continued their conversation.

"WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT!"

The dragon stared back at the group as if it was suddenly offended.

"I took care of the problem?"

"THAT DOES NOT COUNT WHEN YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING THAT MAN HAD"

"Well, I am sorry then…"

"SORRY DOES NOT CUT IT!"

The dragon lowered its head and focused its eyes on Holg…

"You… DARE TALK TO ME! LIKE I AM AT FAULT"

The half-orc was not backing down from this fight… no matter how feared of this dragon was… he would fight.

"YES YOU ARE AT FAULT… YOU OVERGROWN LIZARD"

The dragon's eyes narrowed even further and a low growl emanated from his throat. The entire group of Adrik, Zwelious, Frath and the dragon's daughter slowly backed away from the spectacle. The two stared down until something unexpected happened… the dragon began laughing. A low guttural gurgling was heard as the dragon pulled his head back and laughed with all his might.

"You… my friend, are one of the only people I know who can make me laugh… it seems I owe you an apology…"

An apology by one of the most egotistical species in existence was one of the hardest things to come by…

"You… what?"

"Don't make me say it again… what is it I must do to repay you and your friends here?"

"ummm..."

The others did not quite grasp the gravity of the situation, asking a favour of a dragon meant literally asking for nearly anything. Adrik immediately butted into the conversation and voiced an idea.

" **Oi… we ere need to hed to ve spine of ve world… ye might be able to take us there, aye?** "

"It is settled then… I shall take you as close as I can to the Spine of the World… although I cannot take you directly there I know of a town that is close to your destination"

Holg was about to retaliate but realised it would save them days of walking. The dragon instructed the adventurers to group around in one spot then picked them all up, including the old man and his dog, and began flying towards the spine of the world…


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry about the long chapter wait... I had massive writers block...**

 **So... thanks for sticking with the story for this long! It's going to be on Hiatus for a while because I've got other stories that I have to write which have MUCH more views than this…**

 **btw check out the other one I wrote (Titanfall and RWBY)**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 14:

 _"War does not determine who is right or wrong... it only determines who is leftover in the chaos"_

 _High wizard Nurak Su'um of the Elven city of Chandicar_

On a large flat plain, a group of orcs travelled to a Teirm, a large city about 3 weeks travel from the spine of the world. They were aiming to pillage as much as they could before the city guards from overpowered them, but as they were marching to war, something unexpected happened that caused them to halt. They stopped as they heard a what sounded like the very winds of the world were coming down on them. They looked to see a dark gold shape fly past them overhead, the trailing sound of what seemed to be a feminine scream flowing over the plains.

"Bloody dragons be stealing de princesses"

"Aye… leaving none for us…"

After the dark shape had flown off they began marching again… wondering who was in the clutches of the great beast.

Adrik POV

" **WHYYYYY!** "

As soon as the dragon had grabbed him he immediately felt like he would be seeing his breakfast pretty soon. Nausea gripped him and he clung tingly to the claws of the beast as it lifted them up. For the first couple of minutes as they ascended into the heavens he closed his eyes shut so hard he felt like they would sit there permanently. After he felt their ascent flattening out he looked around frantically for his companions and he was shocked to see them casually sitting on the opened palm of the dragon.

" **WAT AR YE DOING! HOLD ONTO SOMEFING!** "

He began to reconsider their sanity as the half-orc just turned his head slightly to the side to address him.

"Adrik, we are completely safe up here… even if we fell I am sure he would catch us."

" **HOW CAN YE BE SO CALM!** "

"This is not the first time I have flown… neither is it for the other two in our group… I take it is your first time in the skies above Oerik"

" **YES! WHY WOULD ANYONE CONSIDER DOING VIS!** "

Right before anyone could answer the great dragon's daughter flew up right beside him, Gen clinging to her back, and smiled…

"Well, you get used to it after a while… and it's so FUN!"

She dived and began spinning in the air… causing another wave of Nausea to overcome the dwarf.

" **STUPID DRA…** "

Just before he could say another word the great beast pulled into a massive dive and went straight down towards the ground, pulling his wings into his side. At that point, Adrik did the only thing his mind could think… he screamed… he did not care if he could be heard… he would want to be heard in the last moments of his life. About 100 feet from the ground the dragon pulled up and began flying flat over a plain, the screaming of Adrik filled the air. After it had died down the low growl of the dragon's speech was heard over the sound of rushing wind.

"I am sorry dwarf… were you going to say something?"

" **Ummm… Nay** "

"Well, that's good… I swear I saw a pack of orcs back there… and I swear they were hungry"

" **Well…** "

This time, Holg moved over next to him on the paw and whispered into his ear.

"One thing you must learn is to never insult a dragon… treat them like royalty and they will at least pay attention to you"

With a nod, the dwarf went back to violently clinging to the dragons claw as they sailed high above the ground…

Main POV:

After he had settled Adrik he had turned back and had a terrible thought… he had left Silverbeak back with the manticores…

"Oh S***"

Zwelious turned to the paladin with a confused look plastered on his face.

"What was that? I have never heard you swear before?"

"What?... did you think that I wouldn't know some foul language? … anyway, I just remembered that we left Silverbeak back at that town."

"You need not fret… I noticed something following us as soon as we left…"

The ranger seemed to be pointing at something far off in the distance. It was barely visible on the horizon but it was definitely a bird.

"Are you sure that is him"

"Aye… I am certain"

Before he could further inquire, the dragon began to turn towards a nearby mountain.

"Have we arrived dragon?"

"Yes… although this place is still many days from your location I am sure you will understand… if I go any closer the manticore's would be sure to have my hide… and I do have a family I must return to."

"Aye… thank you for your generosity…"

"That reminds me… you yourself have shown generosity in sticking up for that human… you and your compatriots deserve a little something in return…"

"Why thank you… you are too kind"

"Just remember… If you ever do come back here… I will kill you"

Well that turned south quickly

Choosing not to make the situation worse he kept his mouth shut as the dragon flew them into a large clearing on the side of the tree-covered forest. As he set them down Adrik practically jumped off the claw and began kneeling and kissing the ground.

"What a drama queen" stated Frath, casually sheathing the knife he had been sharpening on their trip and vaulting onto the ground. "I don't particularly like flying… but that is just sad… aren't you supposed to be a king or something?"

" **OI!... I'm a King… and Kings ain't got to deal wiv this, ESPECIALY the dwarven kind!** "

The others ignored this and began taking in their surroundings. They were in what appeared to be a small grove, little more than a clearing in a dense forest but it did well to hide them from view. The ground was covered with inch-high grass and there were two small paths leading away from it, one heading west to the mountain, the other more eastward. There was a small fire pit and there were even a few hunting bows strung up on a rack.

"This place used to be one of my friends camping sites… he was a good ranger… but he always spoke out of place… anyway, that is a story for another time. This place will be your dwelling for as long as you see fit… or until three days from now. My wife, daughter and I will be staying in the mountain and I ask you only disrupt us during the daylight hours. It is time for me to go… pleasant dreams adventurers"

And with that the dragon heaved its wings and lifted off into the sky, quickly turning and heading to the mountain. The orange-red rays of the evening sun were descending upon their grove and little could be seen in the forest…

"Well then… anyone for roast rabbit" piped up Zwelious.

Everyone muttered in the affirmative… except Frath.

"Where do you expect to find a rabbit! We are literally in the middle of a forest."

As if in an answer to the question the dragonborn pulled out his bow and quickly loosed two arrows over the thief's shoulder. As he turned he saw two rabbits pinned to a tree with arrows sticking out of their heads.

"Yea, yea… shut up"

With a smirk, the dragonborn went and prepared their dinner. After the dinner of rabbit stew they washed it down with some grog that Frath had 'procured' from the stores of Calambia, they had settled down for the night, waiting for what was in store for the next couple of days….


End file.
